The Original Akatsuki
by kamikaze2007
Summary: The story of before even PAIN joined the Akatsuki! Please read the manga to at least the Naruto VS. Pain fight to understand! Deep manga tie-ins later on. Rated T for violence and language.
1. The Mission Begins

**A/N: Hey! I had an idea strike me randomly one day to write another Naruto fanfic, so here it is! The story of the original Akatsuki members before Pain even joined! PLEASE NOTE: IN ORDER TO FULLY UNDERSTAND THIS STORY, PLEASE READ THE MANGA TO AT LEAST THE PAIN VS. NARUTO FIGHT! Please and thank you ^.^ Also, please forgive any grammar errors you might find, I tried to find and fix them all, but hey, no one's perfect, eh? ENJOY!**

NARUTO

The Original Akatsuki

Chapter 1: The mission begins

A long time ago in Konoha, the sun rose softly over the in-progress wall. Two faces gleamed down on Konoha from the mountain on which they were carved. A man rose from his bed and yawned. He looked out the window at the rising sun. "Ah, what a morning..." He said to himself. "I hope I don't have any dang missions today." Just then, a knock sounded from his door. He walked over and opened it to find his friend from all the way back from when he was a genin. "What do you want, Shou?" He asked annoyed, not being a morning person.

Shou smiled. "Well, good morning to you too, Sunshine." She said. "Lord second has a mission for us."

"Awwww!" Makoto Aizawa groaned. "Why do I always go on missions?"

"Um, Makoto? You haven't gone on a mission in three days..." Shou said.

"Oh, yeah..... Dang, well, let's just go." Makoto sighed.

Later, in the Second Hokage's office, Makoto stood with his team mates, Shou Araki, and Katashi Genkichi. Katashi was tall with red hair and blue eyes. He wore a jonin vest and a turtle neck underneath. Shou was short but well built. She had brown hair, hazel eyes and wore a jonin vest with a long sleeve shirt under it. Makoto was tall and skinny with scruffy blue hair and green eyes. under HIS jonin vest he sported.... nothing....

"I'm glad you're here earlier than I expected, good." The second hokage said. He spoke with a seriousness that seemed almost fake. Makoto stared him down, respectfully, of course. It was hard to tell what lord second was thinking sometimes. "I have a mission for you." He started. "It's an A rank mission from a high-ranking official from the land of Fire. His top priority scrolls containing classified information was stolen from him earlier this week. He requests the best jonin in the village to go retrieve them."

"But why am I going then?" Makoto asked. "I'm an ANBU."

"Whoever has the ability to steal top priority scrolls from a top official must be powerful, so I thought sending an ANBU with them would be safe. Plus, You three have known each other since before graduating the academy, so it works out."

He was right. Makoto had known Shou and Katashi since childhood when they were inseparable, but since he was made ANBU, he had not seen them for a while. Makoto sighed. "Fine, let's go find him."

"Ths official thinks the culprit is in the forest just outside Tanzaku Town." The second hokage said.

"Tanzaku town? That place is a dump!" Katashi said.

"Can we go now?" Makoto said impatient with his teamates.

"Yes! Let's go!" Shou jumped. "Are ya ready, Katashi?!" She yelled back. Shou was always the childish one, even at her age of seventeen years old. Katashi was a completely different person and his birthday was just a few days apart from Shou. Makoto was just one year older than them at eighteen. Makoto got lost in the nostalgia for a moment before Shou snapped him out of it. "Oi! Sleepy head! Are we leaving or what?"

Makoto blinked before he snapped out of it. "Oh, sorry..."

"You spaced out, man, what's wrong?" Katashi asked.

"Nothing, just some nostalgia... hehehe..." Makoto responded.

The trio exited the second hokage's office and started to split up to prepare for their mission. Makoto was about to jump off to his house when Shou stopped him.

"Uh, Makoto?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"I got a present for you." Shou said. "Hold on, let me find it." She rummage through her kunai pouch. As she dug through it, she threw aside stuff she found that wasn't what she wanted. After a shuriken almost took off a pedestrians ear, she found it. "Aha! There it is!" She held up a necklace with a star shaped pendant on the end.

"A necklace?" Makoto asked taking it and inspecting it.

"It's a good luck charm." Shou said. "Look on the back, it says 'never give up' in japanese. I found it yesterday and thought of you, uh, seeing how it's your nindo..." She explained.

"Thanks, I'll keep it close." Makoto smiled. He put it around his neck and tucked it into his jonin vest.

After a couple more minutes of preparation, the trio was on their way to Tanzaku town. On their way, Shou spotted something rustle the the nearby bushes. "Guys, hold on!" She said, Makoto and Katashi looked back.

"What is it?" Makoto asked.

"I saw something...." She walked closer to inspect it, kunai at the ready. Katashi followed her lead and drew his as well. Makoto drew his sword he got when he was promoted to ANBU. "I think it's....." Shou started, but the russling got stronger and a horde of bees flew out at her, she jumped back screaming. "AHHH! I'm allergic to bees!" The bees started swarming around her, so Makoto jumped in front of her and made a handsign. An orb of electricity formed around them and the bees fell to the ground dead.

"Hmm, seems you merely saw a beehive drop from it's tree." Katashi observed.

"Doesn't matter now, let's move on." Makoto said, jumping away. Shou and Katashi followed. When they finally arrived at Tanzaku town, they were greeted by a ramshackle town with dirty buildings. Standing in front of the gate was a man who looked very high-up. He also looked extremely out of place when compared to the dirty little town behind him.

"I take it you are the team the second hokage sent to fufill my request?" The man asked soberly.

"Sir." Makoto saluted, followed by Shou and Katashi.

"At ease. The man who stole my scrolls has wearing an over sized coat, and he was extremely fast. I last saw him run into this forest."

"That's good enough." Makoto said. "Let's look for him." He instructed his teamates.

Katashi turned to the official. "Do you have anything with the culprits scent on it?" He asked.

"No." The man said. "Sorry I could not be of more help."

"Can we go?!" Makoto yelled.

"Sorry..." Katashi said following Makoto. "I just wanted to know if we could get some extra leads..."

When they were well away, the official smirked. "Fools....." He said. He then disppeared in a puff of smoke.

Meanwhile, Makoto and company were leaping through trees keeping their eyes peeled for anything suspicious. Then, a black thing swooped down from above and knocked the three ninja onto their butts on the forest floor. "What the hell just hit us?" Makoto asked rubbing his sore head.

"Hello, Konoha...." A voice emanated. The black figure landed on a tree branch, it stood up and Makoto saw what it was. It was a man in a black cloak, the cloak had red cloud patterns on it. He looked at the mans face, but it was covered by a white mask with what looked like the Uchiha crest on it and one eye hole cut out. "I take it you are Makoto Aizawa?" The man said in an ominous voice

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**A/N: Hello again! I hoped you like the first chapter, it's kinda slow, but it will get better! I promise! Well, later! **


	2. The Bloody Headband

**A/N: Hey guys! It took a while, but here it is! The second chapter to The Original Akatsuki! Have fun reading and remember, forgive any grammar errors, and review!**

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Chapter 2: The Bloody Headband

"Hello, Konoha...." A voice emanated. The black figure landed on a tree branch, it stood up and Makoto saw what it was. It was a man in a black cloak, the cloak had red cloud patterns on it. He looked at the mans face, but it was covered by a white mask with what looked like the Uchiha crest on it and one eye hole cut out. "I take it you are Makoto Aizawa?" The man said in an ominous voice.

"Wh-who are you? And how do you know my name?!" Makoto shouted.

"That doesn't matter right now. Right now, we're talkng about you." The man said in a deep voice.

Makoto looked over at his team mates to see Katashi armed and ready for battle, and Shou shivering. {Shou's a sensory ninja, so if she is shivering, then this guy must be a big deal.} He thought.

"What's with the Uchiha Crest?" Katashi yelled. "Just WHO are you?"

"Me? Well, if you insist, I guess I'll tell you." The man said. "My name is..... HEY LOOK! IT'S A SQUIRREL!!" He shouted out of nowhere. His voice suddenly got lighter and he jumped off the branch. He chased the squirrel all over the place.

"What the hell?" Makoto asked.

"He suddenly bolted off like a mad man..." Shou said. "And his chakra levels suddenly went down..."

"Just WHO is he?!" Katashi said.

BONK! The man had headbutt a tree at high-speed. "OWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!!! That hurt!" He yelled gripping his head.

"Enough messing around!" Katashi jumped at the man with his kunai ready. He swung his kunai, but it missed the man, who didn't move. "What the...? I swear I hit him!"

"Hey, watch your language!" The man said using a play on words.

"Shut up, smart ass!" Makoto yelled. Without warning, Shou ran at him with a chakra charged punch. The man jumped out of her way and she punched a tree. The tree crumbled and the man laughed from behind Shou.

"You can't hit me, I'm way out of your league." His voice became serious again. He grabbed Shou's arm and flipped her over his head and slammed her on the ground, knocking her unconcious.

"Hey!" Makoto made some handsigns and shot a lightning bolt out of his hands at the man.

"Oh, a lightning jutsu!" He yelled before jumping out of the way. "OLE!"

"You jerk...." Katashi grumbled. He made some handsigns. "Fire style: Fire Ball jutsu!" He blew a big fireball at the man.

"ooooh, fire!" The man said in a high voice again. He used his hand and redirected the fireball at Shou.

"Shou! NO!!" Makoto grabbed Shou and jumped out of the way, his foot getting caught in the blaze. The fire ball contined to hit a tree and started a fire. "You okay?" He asked waking her up.

"Uh... I'm fine..." Shou said weakly. She then noticed the fire was growing. "Oh crap!!!" She made some handsigns. "Water style!" She took a water bottle and threw its contents in the air. The little bit of water formed into a small dragin. "Mini water dragon jutsu!!" The little dragon amazingly put out the fire.

"Hahahaha!" The man laughed. "An EXPERIENCED water style user can make the water appear from the water in the air."

"Now you're ticking me off!!!" Makoto yelled. "What do you want?!"

"Well, simmer down, dude!" The man said. "I just wanna talk."

"Talk, when we capture you!!" Katashi leaped down from a tree and squng his kunai at the man. "I KNOW I got you now!"

"AH!" The man yelled. "Just kidding! But you DID crack my mask." He revealed a large crack in his mask running down the middle. "I need to get a new one, this one reveals myself too easily."

Katashi ran at the man again and sswung his kunai. The man ran through him and in an instant, was next to Makoto, with his hand on Makoto's shoulder. the other half of his mask was at Katashi's feet. Katashi looked down and saw that the eye hole was on the piece of the mask. "He's fast." He mumbled.

"'Makoto Aizawa, I need a PRIVATE word with you." The man said in a deeper tone than he had spoken in yet. He was covering the unmasked side of his face with his hand. He moved his fingers so that Makoto could see a red glaring eye.

"That's the-" Makoto started, but he was whisked into a dark void. He could see nothing. Then a huge person appeared before him. He looked up and it was a man in a cloak with red clouds and an orange swirley mask. Next to that man's left foot appeared the man from earlier with his uchiha crest mask intact. "Sharingan!" Makoto finished when he saw him. "You're an Uchiha, aren't you?"

The man sighed. "Yes, I'm an Uchiha. But enough about me. I want to talk about you." He said. "I would like you to join my.... club, if you will."

"W-why?!" Makoto asked.

"Because you are one of the strongest ninja in the Leaf Village."

"Okay, but why should I join you?!"

"Because your talents are being wasted in that puny village."

"Why should I trust you?!" Makoto demanded.

"Because I know. I help found it." The man said.

"Y-y-you what?!" Makoto stuttered

"Let me finally introduce myself. I am Madara Uchiha."

"M-m-madara?!" Makoto fell back. "I-I thought you died!"

"That's what every one thought. I will give you the whole story.... IF you join my organization." Madara said.

"What did you mean when you said 'puny village?'" Makoto asked.

"Konoha is full of wimps." Madara said. "An Uchiha could lead the village three times as well as a _Senju_." He said blankly.

"Shut up!" Makoto ran at Madara. Madara laughed and disappeared.

"Never try to attack a genjutsu caster while you're stuck in his own jutsu." He said as if he were talking to a child.

"Grrr.... What is wrong with you?!" Makoto yelled.

"Nothing, what's wrong with you?" Madara said right back.

"Stop messing around!" Makoto yelled, getting sick of Madara messing around.

"Fine. I'll cut to the chase." Madara walked closer to Makoto and grabbed his wrist. "To be truthful, there's something I have neglected to tell you.... until now..... The Second Hokage is scared of you, Makoto."

"Scared....of me?" Makoto asked.

"Yes. He is afraid you are getting too strong. You could possibly beat him out for the role of Hokage."

"What?"

"You see, you were not supposed to know this, but you are in the running for Hokage. The elders are leaning very strongly to giving you the position. But the Second Hokage does not like that. He thinks you will give the Uchiha clan sympathy, where he didn't."

"What? I'm confused."

"The Uchiha clan has been supressed since the very begginning of the village. If it weren't for the elders, I would have been the first Hokage, and an Uchiha would have been the Second. And if you were to become the third Hokage, the second is afriad you will let the Uchiha gain power again. So he is planning to kill you and your friends when you get back to the village."

Makoto's eyes widened. "Shou..... Katashi..."

"All dead, unless you join me."

"...Fine..." Makoto finally sighed.

"Terrific! But there is ONE condition...." Madara said.

"What is that condition?" Makoto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You must kill your two friends."

"WHAT?!" Makoto fell backwards. "B-but you said if I joined you-"

"The second Hokage wouldn't hurt them, but if they survive to go back to Konoha, you will be hunted mercilessly." Madara said. Makoto could feel a glare coming from underneath the mask. "So what will it be? Kill your friends, or be killed by the man you trusted as your leader!" Makoto stood still for a few minutes. Madara finally sighed. "You think it over. Meet me just south of the forest if you decide to join." Then the Genjutsu slowly dissipated. When Makoto opened his eyes, he was sitting in front of Madara, who was now covering his whole face again. "Later." He jumped away and Shou and Katashi ran to Makoto's side.

"Are you okay?!" Shou asked.

".....Yeah..." Makoto said quietly. All that Madara had said was still running through his mind. Was he telling the truth? Was the hokage REALLY scared of him? And if so, was it really bad enough to KILL him? But, how would Madara know this? Well, if he was truthful, he WAS the co-founder of the village, and that would explain everything. As Shou and Katashi talked to each other and decided whether or not to track Madara or just leave, Makoto made a desicion of his own. He rose up, a new look in his eyes, and looked at his teammates. He decided this would be the final time he saw his friends alive.

"You okay?" Katashi asked.

"Yeah, you don't look well." Shou said looking in his eyes. That look in her eyes. It pained Makoto. He almost decided against what he was about to do, but right now, his life was more important than anyone elses.

"I'm fine." Makoto said.

"So are we going to track that guy, or are we going to leaved for home?" Katashi asked.

"Niether." Makoto said drawing his sword.

"Huh?" Katashi asked. When he realized what Makoto meant, he had a sword through his gut. Makoto was behind him holding his ANBU sword.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Shou yelled.

"Doesn't matter, you won't be alive long enough to care." Makoto said without emotion.

"Damn you!" Katashi yelled pulling himself off Makoto's blade. He swung a kunai at Makoto's face, but missed and knocked his headband to the ground instead. Makoto used this opening to kick Katashi to the ground. Katashi simply grunted and ran at Makoto making handsigns. "Fire style: Fire ball jutsu!" He blew a fire ball at Makoto, who made more handsigns and created a shield made from lightning. The shield wrapped around the fireball and went flying back to Katashi. "Ah!" He screamed in pain as it impacted him in an explosion, sending him flying backwards. He got up, burns all around his body. "You... why?!" He yelled. Makoto didn't answer. Katashi gritted his teeth and ran at Makoto yelling. He swung a kick, but Makoto dodged it and drew his sword again. He slashed Katashi on the chest. his blood landed on the ground and Makoto's headband. "Y-you..." Katashi said gripping his chest. "Why would you do this?"

"I have to." Makoto said.

"I thought you were our friend...." Katashi said getting woozy. Makoto looked up at him and ran him through one more time. This one had struck the heart. Makoto knew that much. He withdrew his sword from Katashi's chest and let him fall to the ground. He reached down and picked up his headband. He put it on, just to have Shou kick it off. The kick also hit Makoto's face.

Makoto stepped back and held his face while his headband landed behind Shou. "Don't fight it, it will only make this hurt more."

"You've got to be sh__ing me!" Shou yelled, tears streaming down her face. Makoto was taken aback by this outburst. "Right now, NOTHING can possibly hurt more than watching my best friend kill my other friend."

"Shou..." Makoto said dumbstruck.

"Shut up!" She yelled at him. "I...How could you?"

"I had to."

"BULL CRAP!" Shou kicked him in the face once more, causing him to fall to the ground. "No one HAS to do something like this! How could you do that when you've known him since before you were ten?!" She yelled. Makoto stood up, struggling to hold back a tear. "Let me guess, I'm next?" Shou stuttered crying. "I can't believe you."

"I'm sorry." Makoto said. He drew his sword as Shou gasped.

"Please tell me I'm dreaming." She said. Her eyes widened as Makoto ran his blad through her chest. He was standing so his face was right next to hers.

"I'm sorry. Shou, I will remember every single word you've just said." He had now given up holding back the tears. Blood from his blade dripped on the headband. "Shou, I have to tell you something before you die."

"Makoto?" Shou stuttered out through the blood.

"I love you."

"W-what?!" Shou said in a last spurt of energy. "Makoto... I-I love you too." She coughed more blood and fell silent and cold.

"Damn." He said as he pulled his sword from her body, letting her fall. "I was hoping those wouldn't be her last words." He said starting to cry. He stood in his spot for a good ten minutes weeping in sorrow. He kneeled down and touched Shou's lifeless face. "I'm really sorry, both of you." He stood up, grabbed his bloody headband and put it on. He decided that this headband would for the rest of his life be a symbol of his friends and this fateful day in which he lost them by his own hand. He walked out of the forest and Madara appeared before him.

"Is the deed done?" He asked, holding his cracked mask to his face still.

"Yes." Makoto said.

"Well done. Follow me." Madara started walking away, and Makoto followed him.

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**A/N: Wow, some crazy stuff there huh? I hope you liked it and remember: a review is a review, no matter how small**


	3. Meet Your New Teammates

**No author's note this time, except read, review, and enjoy. Thanks.**

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Chapter 3: Your New Teammates.

Makoto followed Madara out of the forest and through unidentifiable areas. Finally, they reached a cave with a giant boulder blocking it. After showing Makoto how, Madara moved the boulder from the entrance. "Now," he started, leading Makoto into the dark cavern. "Meet your new teammates. We're a bit short of members at the moment, but we are still powerful."

"You never told me what this 'club's name is." Makoto remarked.

"I didn't? Hm, must have slipped my mind." Madara remarked and kept walking. "You are our fifth member so far. Let me introduce you to the other three, because of course, you already know me." Makoto found himself in a big empty room. where three other people were gathered. "First, we have Kakuzu." Madara said pointing to a man with glowing green eyes, a brown face, a waterfall village headband, and a mask. "Zetsu." He pointed to a man with what looked like green spikes surrounding his dual-colored head. "And finally, Ikari Fundo." He pointed to a short, chubby man with piercing blue eyes and long brown hair. "Together, the five of us make up the Akatsuki." He turned to Makoto.

"Akatsuki?" Makoto repeated. "And what exactly do we want to accomplish?"

"You brought someone here and didn't bother to tell him _ANYTHING_about us? For shame, Madara." The one named Kakuzu remarked.

"I didn't want to tell him too much in case he didn't join." Madara growled. "Now, down to business." He made a handsign and a black cloak with red clouds all over it appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "Put this on. And then I have a gift for you after you're done with that."

"Okay." Makoto took the cloak from midair and threw it on. He buttoned it up and looked down at it. It covered his feet and was a bit too big for him, covering his hands.

"Don't worry about the size, it's supposed to be roomy." Madara said digging through his cloak. He dug out a ring with an orange circle on it. "Here, this ring signifies your membership even further." He handed the ring to Makoto.

"A....ring? What are we, a fraternity?" He joked.

"Shut up!" Kakuzu said angrily.

"Kakuzu! Control yourself." Madara commanded. "Don't mind him. He has an anger problem. He has this nasty habit of killing everyone I pair him with." Which made Ikari shiver. "Now take the ring."

Makoto took the ring and examined the kanji in the orange circle. "San. Three?" He looked up at Madara. "What's that about?"

"All will be revealed soon enough." Madara reassured him. "Now put it on."

"Okay then." He slipped the ring on. "Hmm, tight fit." He said.

"That's what she said!" Zetsu yelled.

"Shut up!" A lower voice said. Makoto realized that voice came from the black half of Zetsu's face. "Don't be immature!"

"Sorry..." The white half said.

"Zetsu, sorry this is awfully short notice, but I think I may pair our new recruit with you, okay?" Madara said.

"Okay, I'm fine with that!" The white half said.

"I'm not!" The black half protested.

"Why not?" The white half asked.

"With our two personalities, it will be like having three people on a team!" The black half pouted. "Plus, look at the guy, he's so scrawny, he'll barely be able to pass off as a stick!"

_I hope they know I'm right here... _Makoto thought.

"Our role is as a spy, we can't be running around with someone with so little camouflage skill." The black face continued.

"It will just be until we get a new member okay?" Madara reassured. "Which, with war looming on the horizon, shouldn't take too long."

"War?" Makoto asked.

"The third great ninja war is about to start, I can feel it. And afterwards, if all goes according to plan, I will depart for a few years." Madara explained. "But in this war, I want you to do something of the up most importance." He said to Makoto.

"What?"

"Prove yourself." Madara said. "Prove you have defected from the village, by killing the man you know as hokage!"

Makoto gasped. "I don't think I can kill him." He said.

"Don't worry, the right time won't come for at least a year. So don't worry. For now...." He pulled a kunai from his coat. Makoto stood back and Madara readied it. He swung the kunai at Makoto's head, making a clean straight scratch in his headband.

"Dude!" Makoto yelled. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Yet another sign you have defected from Konoha and joined the Akatsuki." Madara said. You see Kakuzu with his scratched headband? He didn't get that on accident, you know."

"Oh, okay." Makoto said.

"Zetsu." Madara said. "You take Makoto and show him our various hideouts, and give him the basics of what we're doing, okay?"

"Yes sir!" Both halves said at once.

"Kakuzu, you and Ikari are on scout duty again. As for me, I'm heading out, checking on what's going on in the world." Madara walked out of the cave, while Kakuzu and Ikari poofed out.

"So, uh, Zetsu." Makoto said. "Nice to meet you. Er, both of you." He said reaching out his hand.

"Don't be so friendly." The black half said. "If you had done that to Kakuzu, hell, you would have to say goodbye to your hand, if not your entire arm."

"Uh, sorry." Makoto said taking his hand back. "So, we heading out?"

"In a sec, hold on." Zetsu's white half said pulling out a map. He marked their current location on it and handed it to Makoto. "We will mark the location of all our hideouts on this map." Remember them. Because if we suddenly need to assemble, or I'm needed for a mission, it's gonna be up to you to find the nearest hideout."

"Okay then..." Makoto said. He followed Zetsu out of the cave. He reached for his neck and pulled out the necklace Shou gave him. He gripped it and put it on under his cloak, letting the medal star-shaped pendant touch his skin. He winced at how cold it was, but quickly continued after Zetsu.


	4. With Time

**A/N: Correcting the last chapter... When the second Hokage was alive was nowhere NEAR the third great ninja war. In fact, the Second Hokage DIED during the FIRST. So that means the first ninja war was actually occurring DURING the first few chapters. Gah, stupid mistake on my part. I need more research! DX So I'm afraid I'm going to have to change what this chapter was going to be... Please ignore my mis-statement in the previous chapter.... -sweatdrop- Regardless, I want you to enjoy this significantly more accurate chapter!**

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Chapter 4: With Time

Zetsu gave Makoto a grand tour of all the Akatsuki hideouts. They had one hideout in each major country at least and various in other less prominent areas. There were only two things Makoto found out of place. First of all, the Akatsuki had no hideouts in the Land of Lightning. When he asked Zetsu about the mountainous country, Zetsu's black half simply replied "With time..." Also, Zetsu told him about the base in Amegakure, the rain village, but never showed Makoto. When he asked about this matter, Zetsu said the same thing. "With time..." And it ticked Makoto off. Well, he was a new member, but he deserved to at least know more about the location of a few measly bases!

No matter, he still carried out What Madara told him to do. Which, surprisingly, was very little. Visiting all the bases took at least two months, but after that, Makoto barely saw Madara. Occasionally he checked in to make sure both Makoto and Zetsu were still alive, mutter a few words to Zetsu, and be off. His only words to Makoto, if any at all, were "Keep it up." Keep what up?! What was Makoto doing that he had to keep up?! That did it, he was going to ask Madara what was going on next time he appeared.

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Half a year into his membership, Madara appeared before Zetsu and Makoto in the middle of Zetsu's black and white halves arguing about nothing in particular while Makoto fondled with his gift from Shou. This time he wore a mask that was red all over and had white spikes around it, making it look like his eye hole was the center of a red shuriken. "Hello there you three." Madara greeted them. "Playing nice?"

"Drop the crap, why are you here this time?!" Zetsu's black half muttered annoyed from his interrupted squabble with his white half.

"Just checking in." Madara said. Then he brought Zetsu into their usual huddle, leaving Makoto to balance the sharp end of his kunai on his forefinger. The only thing he overheard from Madara was "You'll be rid of it soon, don't worry." As much as he was interested, he had to divert his attention, knowing that if he eavesdropped, Madara would no doubt catch him and kill him. When Madara broke the huddle, he walked over to Makoto. "I have news for you." He said.

"Finally you have something to tell me." Makoto muddered.

"The former first Hokage is dead." Madara said. "Kakuzu killed him in the heat of battle, and your turn is quickly approaching."

"My turn to die?" Makoto asked.

Madara laughed. "No, no, no. The time for you to prove yourself. Remember what I told you? You are going to become very important in the next few months." Madara turned around. "I don't have much time, but you three meet me at the border between the lands of Lightning and Fire. We'll talk there. Don't worry Makoto, your time to shine will come... with time." And he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Makoto clenched his fists. "With time?! Damn it!" He punched a tree, making a crater. "What am I, a child?! I can't be expected to just lay around and wait patiently."

"Makoto..." Zetsu's white half started.

"I didn't kill my best friends for this..." Makoto said, his voice faltering.

"Oh stop your bitching!" Zetsu's black half yelled. Makoto jumped back from a kunai flying at him.

"You are a new recruit." His white half said. "You can't be expected to be taking down Bij-"

"Shut up!" Zetsu's black half snapped.

"What?" Makoto said.

"N-nothing!" Zetsu's white half quickly said. "I said nothing!"

"No, you were starting to say something. Something that started with a B." Makoto raised an eyebrow.

"Bijuu." Zetsu's white half corrected. Then he slapped himself. "Dammit!" He said.

"You idiot!" His black half said.

"Bijuu?" Makoto questioned. "Where does that word sound familiar?"

"You'll learn all about it." Zetsu's black half assured him. "With time."

Makoto clenched his fist and electricity surged through his hands. He swung his arm and cut his previously punched tree in half. "I can't take this anymore." He said walking away towards the Land of Lightning.

* * *

Makoto reached the Land of Lightning to surprisingly see Zetsu there before him, standing next to Madara. Also next to Madara was another man in an Akatsuki robe. This guy was tall, dark, and had long flowing red hair. His ring was blue with the kanji "Ku" on it, meaning "Sky or "Void." He had a headband with the Kumogakure symbol crossed out. This was a shinobi from the cloud village. Makoto couldn't help but frown, being as Konoha always disliked Kumo.

"What did you want to tell me?" He asked.

"Makoto, meet Inari Ai." Madara said. "He will be your new teammate."

"Okay." Makoto said, hoping for more.

"You have an assignment. Konoha's relations with Kumo have been growing sour. I expect them to break out in battle soon enough. Eventually, the battle will grow serious enough for the Second Hokage to intrude himself. Your job is to set up a base here, gather further intel about the Lightning country, and, when the Second Hokage enters battle, kill him." Madara explained.

"Okay, finally some action!" Makoto said, finally getting a glint of enjoyment for the first time in his long six months in the Akatsuki. "So when do you think the Hokage will-"

"With time." Madara assured him. "Find a location suitable for a hideout and blast a cave into it. That's how you will start our new base, I will instruct you from there." With that, he and Zetsu disappeared. Madara by disappearing in a spiral, Zetsu by sinking into the ground. That left Makoto and Inari to meet.

"Hello." Inari said, shaking Makoto's hand. "Inari Ai."

"Makoto. Just call me Makoto, Love-Boy." Makoto said sternly.

"Like I haven't heard THAT before." Inari shrugged.

"Well, why wouldn't you expect it? Your last name is 'love.'" Makoto taunted him. Yes, he was gonna have fun with this aspect of Inari.

"Well," Inari retorted, "My girlfriend thought it was cute. "I bet yours didn't think you were so cute... When you killed her." Inari's eyes widened, and he ducked the barrage of five kunai flying at his face, felt a knee in his stomach, a blow across his chest, and a forearm against his neck. Makoto had pinned him against a tree and was pointing a kunai at his eye.

"How....do you know... about that?" Makoto demanded.

"I-I-I.....Madara told me." Inari insisted. "Don't kill me!" He pleaded. "I''m your only intel on the Cloud village..."

No matter how much Makoto wanted to, he didn't kill Inari. Why? Why did Madara tell someone who just became a member everything about him, but not Makoto, a six month member, anything?! He hardly knew everyone's names, much less what their background were! Something was going on, he could feel it.

* * *

Nonetheless, their assignment went on. They found a mountain no one climbed and thought this would be it. On the other edge of the mountain was a sheer three thousand foot drop. The bottom of the cliff was an expansive, downward sloping forest, and from the top of the mountain, you could see all the way into the land of Fire, more than two miles away. Sticking out horizontally was a lone tree. Below the tree was a huge crack in the side of the mountain. Inari and Makoto found this would be the perfect location. A huge mountainside base that was, to a degree, inaccessible AND had a view all the way into the Land of Fire? Genius. Makoto stuck a long line of explosive kunai down the crack. He went back up to the top of the cliff and detonated the kunai. The blast caused a huge crater in the side of the cliff, and was too far away from Kumo to cause any ruckus. Now for the security system. They decided to lodge a boulder into the crater. The only way to get in was to verify you were an Akatsuki member via hand print. In order to register everyone's hand, they invited all the members of Akatsuki to the new base. Once everyone had signed the boulder with their hand, Madara approached Inari and Makoto.

"Very nice." He said. "A base in the side of a mountain. Clever."

"It was all Makoto's idea." Inari insisted. Kiss ass. But Makoto had no problem with it so long as it put him in good with Madara.

"What if someone who isn't Akatsuki tries to enter the base?" Kakuzu inquired. Always the pessimist...

"Well, Lover Boy rigged a genjutsu. If a non-member touched the rock in hopes of entering, an extremely powerful genjutsu would activate on any human being within a fifty foot radius. The victim of the genjutsu would believe the bottom of the cliff held their deepest desires, so they would jump off to their death." Makoto explained.

"Wonderful!" Madara praised them.

"Well, now that that's over, we need to get back to Konoha to get news on the happenings on the war front." Zetsu's white half said. He melted into the wall and was gone.

"Always a wierd one." Inari observed. "Always melting into things."

"And me and Ikari need to... uh, fundraise." Kakuzu said and he and Ikari were gone.

"Pessimist." Inari said. "And that Ikari is such a shy one...." Thus, the Akatsuki. They acted like a clique in a high school. Always gossiping about one another behind each others back. It was disgusting, but Makoto just needed to kill the second hokage, so he decided he would stand it.

"So Makoto, Inari." Madara started. "Time for phase wo of your assignment. Gather intel about Kumo. Inari will start with recording what he already knows for our archives, which should be alot, Inari Ai, Kumo's ANBU commander."

Whoa, whoa, wait. Lover Boy was the head ANBU of Kumogakure?! And he just defected? Was his Raikage planning on killing him just as Makoto's Hokage had planned for him? Either way, this dude was pretty powerful stuff. And that meant Akatsuki's power just increased. By alot. Makoto had no clue how powerful everyone else was, but figured with Lover Boy, they were bound to make a decent team.

And so their work began! Inari spent a day or two working on the Akatsuki's Kumo section of the archives. Madara wanted Akatsuki to have very detailed records on every thing in the ninja world. While Inari worked on that, Makoto staked out Kumo, looking at security, or more specifically, weak security. Kumo always had at least thirty ninja guards. But at night, only 10 were present. And most of them had day jobs as well, so they would be tired enough to be perfectly susceptible to even a mediocre genjutsu. He tested this fact by casting one on a guard one night. The genjutsu made him think he was a chicken in a beauty pageant. When others found him, it was the middle of the talent competition and he was juggling shuriken. When one shuriken hit a guard's eye, Makoto nearly died laughing. Which was _not _a good idea....

"Hey, what's that?" A guard said, hearing Makoto laughing hysterically.

"Crap." He whispered. He made a handsign and a cocoon of lightning surrounded him. The guards saw it and ran towards Makoto.

"Hey! You! Stop right there!" The yelled. Once they were within three feet of the cocoon, lightning branches reached out and shocked them to death. Then Makoto disappeared in a tangle of electricity. He reappeared on the tree over looking Akatsuki's cliff. He walked down calmly and put his hand on the boulder from above it. It blew up and he let himself fall into the entrance. He walked in and made a handsign and the giant boulder reassembled itself.

"Makoto, your hair's on fire." Inari said without looking up from his work. "Did you use the Lightning cocoon again?"

Makoto pinched the small flame in his hair and shook the ash from his charred body. "Ya try to have a little fun and then what? You get caught by no good...." He mumbled walking away to get a new Akatsuki robe. When he came back in putting his hair in place, Inari stood up. "You got everything you know down?" Makoto asked.

"Not quite." Inari said stretching. "I just need a few hours tomorrow to finish up. Then we can infiltrate."

"Good." Makoto said. "Night time is the best time to infiltrate. There are only ten guards and they're all tired, so it will be easy to pull off, even without a weak genjutsu."

"Thanks for your info gathering, I never was assigned to guard duty in my time at Kumo." Inari said.

"Speaking of," Makoto started, "Why did you leave the village? I mean, you were ANBU commander, you had a girlfriend, why did you just up and leave?"

Inari sat on a rock in the middle of the base, and Makoto dislodged a rock and threw it so it landed next to Inari, then he sat on said rock. "Well you see, I _did _have a girlfriend, and I _was _the ANBU commander, and my life was going the way a ninja dreams about in the academy. I was strong, I had power. I made big decisions. Not to mention my girlfriend was hot!" Inari smiled.

"I get that." Makoto sighed. "Now why did you leave? You could have easily claimed the title of Raikage at your pace."

"Well, my life was all those things, but something was just out of place. I used to think A and even S rank missions were out of my reach, but when I finished five or six S rank missions without a scratch, I figured, whatever... A few months of nothing special later, and I was so bored! When was the rebellion I was dreaming of stopping going to start? Why wasn't I making decisions? Life was boring."

"So you just left?" Makoto asked.

"No, I escaped!" Inari chuckled. "Madara told me that the Akatsuki was fun, you risked getting caught and killed just to pull off a small heist. He promised me something fun, something different. I was instantly sold. So I booked it. I told the Raikage I was going to leave. He got pissed!" Inari was now laughing heartily. "He tried to kill me, but blew a hole in his wall. He nearly exploded the entire Raikage tower! But I got away, I ran and I ran, I killed a few lower class ANBU on the way, and as soon as I caught sight of Madara, everyone had lost my trail. Haha, it was so awesome!" Inari shook his head. "And oh, the adrenaline rush. Knowing you were a rebel now, if you got caught, you were dead, and it sent shivers down my spine."

"Uh, huh..." Makoto said. "So you'll get a kick out of tomorrow's mission, won't you?"

"Hell yes!" Inari jumped up and punched the air. "It will be awesome!"

"What about your girlfriend?" Makoto asked. "Didn't you tell her you were gonna leave?"

Inari's smile disappeared and he sat back down. "Naw, I just....you know... left." He shrugged. "I'm going to visit her tomorrow during the mission and say goodbye."

"Now you're a Lover Boy in more ways than one." Makoto said. "Okay then, just don't let it interrupt anything too much." he sighed.

"Oh it won't. When I'm done with that, we'll be right next to the archives." Inari said.

"Why? Is she a librarian or something?" Makoto asked.

"No, her room is right next to the archives in the Raikage tower."

Makoto's eyes widened. "Inari.... Why is that...?"

"Because my girlfriend is the Raikage's daughter." Inari smiled.

"Shit..." Makoto sighed. "I think you just increased our chances of being caught by tenfold."

"What? We're gonna have to go there anyway!" Inari defended. "I just thought I'd stop by, is all."

"And get more of your adrenaline rush." Makoto said.

"That's the jist of it."

"Why are we even going to the archives?" Makoto questioned. "Don't you already know everything in there?"

"Nope. There's a whole section that the Raikage doesn't let anyone else touch. Hell, there's even a section the _elders _don't let the _Raikage_ read!"

"Really?" Makoto crossed his arms. "So it's settled. I'll get into the Raikage section of the archives and start researching, and you say goodbye to your girlfriend. But don't get too crazy, because after you're done with that, you're going to help me, okay?"

"Fine." Inari said. "If you just saw her, you would want her just like I do. Like I said, she's _hot!_"

"I got that part." Makoto said.

"I'm not kidding man!"

"I believe you."

"No really, if you just looked at her, you would be in love instantly." Inari snapped his fingers. "I mean, she has gorgeous hair, nice legs, and huge-"

"Okay, okay, I get it, she's cute, just get your rest." Makoto interrupted as Inari was making cupping gestures around his chest. He kicked his rock away and walked away to his makeshift bed on the ground. He lay down and tried to get some rest. The second his head hit the ground, he was out. The next day, he was woken up by Inari.

"Wake up sleepy head." He shook Makoto up. "It's nearly time."

"I slept all that time?" Makoto asked.

"Kinda. You woke up eight hours ago, but I thought you should get some sleep, so I finished my homework, knocked you out, and took a nap myself."

"Much appreciated.... I think." Makoto said, his head suddenly hurting.

"Well, it's twilight out, and we have about an hour before we need to go, so let's get ready." Inari said. Both Akatsuki members prepared for their intel gathering. They got some notebooks and pens and some extra kunai and shuriken, just in case. In an hour, they were rested up, fed and ready to infiltrate Kumogakure.

At the village gate, Makoto and Inari sat waiting for a chance to sneak in under the tired guards' noses. One particularly tired guard walked by and just sat down. Makoto and Inari looked at each other and the man just fell asleep. Makoto shrugged. "A bit too easy, but it works..." And they slipped out of the bushes and into the village. Beyond the village gate, the two shinobi found themselves staring into a huge white cloud. "There's just a cloud." Makoto stared at Inari. "Am I being punked?"

Inari laughed. "No, no. The Village hidden in the clouds is _literally _hidden in the clouds."

"Okay then." Makoto shrugged.

"In order to get in, you need to know where the path is." Inari said. Path? "Just follow me." Inari said in response to Makoto's puzzled look. Inari took a step forward. Instead of falling like Makoto was afraid of, his foot landed on what sounded like solid steel. He kept walking forward and Makoto quickly followed. A path hidden in clouds to get to the village hidden in clouds. Genius. Suddenly, Inari took a sudden turn and continued walking. "Careful." he called to Makoto. "One wrong steps and you will fall thousands of feet to your death." That was encouraging... Makoto carefully followed Inari and after a few twists and turns, the cloud was behind them and they were in the village hidden in the clouds. Makoto gaped at Kumogakure. All the buildings built into the tallest mountains in the world. Seems when you felt on top of the world here, you really _were _on top of the world. In the middle was the tallest mountain, with the Raikage's tower built into it. "That's our destination." Inari pointed at the Raikage tower.

"Okay. Let's go." Makoto said.

"We can't just stroll up to it, we need to go around." Inari made a handsign. "Lightning carriage." A box of lightning surrounded Makoto and Inari. Then he made a handsign and they were covered in a cloud. Makoto could feel the liquid from the cloud making his hair damp.

"Was the cloud necessary?" He asked Inari.

"Yes, we need some camo don't we? And besides, my girlfriend tells me I look sexy when my hair is wet." Inari messed with his hair, making it wet as possible.

Makoto sighed. "I swear, you're hormones are more out of control than a drunk college girl at a frat party."

"You've seen nothing yet." Inari laughed.

"I really don't want to." Makoto said, itching to jump out of the cloud to his imminent doom. Anything would be better than listening to Lover Boy drone on.

They reached a window and Makoto could see a girl standing in her room combing her long white hair. Body wise, she seemed almost opposite Inari. She was short, dark, and... aside from the white hair, looked just like Shou. Makoto was shocked. Suddenly he felt the charm against his chest more so than ever. He took it out of his cloak and gripped it. "Doesn't she look amazing?" Inari asked Makoto. "Makoto...Makoto? What's wrong?"

Makoto looked down at the charm. Just to recap, it was a necklace with a star shaped pendant on the end. On the back, the words "Never give up" were engraved in Japanese.

"Let's just go." Makoto said.

"Okay." Inari said, taken aback by Makoto's sudden serious tone. Then he turned to the window. "Psst, hey, baby!"

The girl turned around. "A...cloud?" Inari dispelled the cloud. The girl gasped and her eyes watered. "I-Inari?"

The lightning carriage dispersed and Makoto and Inari jumped into the girls room. Inari hugged the girl and Makoto waited for his chance to slip out.

"Daddy told me you were dead!" Then she looked at his robe. "...What's with the get up?" She asked Inari. "And who's your friend?"

"This is Makoto. Makoto, meet Yumi Nii." Inari introduced the two.

"Hi." Yumi said holding out her hand for Makoto to shake. Makoto shook it slowly. "Anything wrong?" She asked seeing his melancholy expression.

"It's just..." Makoto sighed. "You look a lot like someone who was very, very close to me..."

"Uh, huh..." Inari said. "Moving on!" He broke the hand shake between Yumi and Makoto and put his hands on her shoulders. "Makoto, you go to the archives, I'll let her know what's up."

Makoto left without another word and entered the archive.

"Why's that guy going to the archives, Love?" Yumi asked.

"We're just gathering info on the village."

"W-why?"

"You see, I left the village." Inari said.

"What? You're....becoming rouge? But why?"

"I'll explain it to you if you join me in the Akatsuki!"

Meanwhile, Makoto found the archives. A huge door with "ARCHIVES" Painted on it in red.

"Discreet..." Makoto muddered to himself as he entered the door. Inside he found a huge expansive library stuffed with books and scrolls and techniques. "Wow..." Being the slight book worm he was, he wanted to plop down with a random book and read all night, but Inari had combed over everything in here, it was the Raikage only room he was interested in. Along with the elder room, he was going to comb over everything Inari didn't. He headed to a door that had a small sign hanging on the doorknob.

It read "Raikage only, enter AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!"

"I don't think he wants anyone in there." Makoto said opening the door slowly. One thing he hadn't thought of was that the Raikage may just be studying in there right at that moment. Luck was on his side and no one else was in the small room with books covering the walls. He read only one title and knew he had struck gold.

"10 Forbidden jutsu only the Raikage could pull off." Makoto smiled. With this, he and Inari could be nearly unstoppable. Screw copying the data in this, he was taking this book. He grabbed a random book and proceeded to copying it. No sooner had he copied the title than he jumped three feet in the air. In the room next door, he hard a loud bellowing, a crash, a small explosion, and the sharp crackle of electricity.

"Damn, I think we're caught." He said. He heard the big door open and someone stumbling in.

"Makoto!" Inari yelled. He burst into the room and one look told Makoto something happened. His face was covered in blood and his right sleeve was torn off, revealing a bruised and probably broken arm. And something told Makoto that wasn't Inari's blood on his face.

"What happened?!" He asked.

Inari said through his exhausted pants. "We got caught. Raikage... Found us. I-I-I panicked!

Makoto slapped him. "What did you do?!"

"Makoto, I killed the first Raikage."

* * *

**A/N: Holy crap!! Well, there you have it, chapter 4! This was a really long chapter, according to this word counter thing, I typed more than four and a half thousand words! My goal was at least three thousand, But wow, this was really long. So anyway, please review and tell me what you thought about this longer and more accurate chapter, and sayonara!**


	5. Proving Yourself

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's chapter 5 of the Original Akatuski! Prepare for 5,268 words of pure ninja epic-ness!! Remember, forgive grammar mistakes. I'm mostly very tired when I write these things, and normally don't catch some mistakes until they're published.... -.- But anyway, read, review, and enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 5: Proving Yourself

If you recall, Makoto left Yumi's room to look for the archives and the following conversation took place:

"Why's that guy going to the archives, Love?" Yumi asked.

"We're just gathering info on the village."

"W-why?"

"You see, I left the village." Inari said.

"What? You're....becoming rouge? But why?"

"I'll explain it to you if you join me in the Akatsuki!"

"The what?"

"The Akatsuki. We're basically criminals, but we're planning something, I don't know what it is, but it's BIG!" Inari held his arms out as if recounting a big catch during fishing.

"Oh, I....I don't know...." Yumi said.

"Oh, come on!" Inari put his hands and Yumi's shoulders. "Now we can always be together!"

"But if you're a rouge, my dad won't hesitate to kill you, you know that?"

"Well, yeah, but that's the fun of it!" Inari said practically jumping. "The thrill of knowing you could be caught and killed at any moment... Oh, it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!"

"Is that the only reason you left the village, Inari?" Yumi asked. "For the pure adrenaline rush? You would leave the entire village, leave me... just for a moment of excitement?! Are you crazy?!"

"What? Well, that was why I came back, to get you to join us, so I wouldn't have to leave you."

"Well, my answer is no." Yumi crossed her arms. "I don't want to have to live my life in fear of being killed everyday."

"You won't have to." Inari insisted. "We have secret, undetectable bases that, even if they WERE found, would be impossible for anyone to get into. We won't have to hi-"

"The answer is _no_!" Yumi stomped her foot. "I'm not going to risk my life for no good reason, even if you beg."

"But-"

"Yumi!" A voice said from outside the door. "I need to tell you something..."

"Oh shit." Inari froze.

"Um, just a second, daddy!" Yumi said.

"No, it's important, I'm coming in." The voice said as the doorknob slowly turned. Inari looked around for a way to get out of this situation. The door opened revealing the big figure of the first Raikage. He saw Inari and roared. "You spineless fool!" He shot lightning straight at Inari, who jumped out of the way and let the jutsu blast apart the wall to Yumi's room. "How dare you come back here after running away! I will not allow anyone to spit in my face!" He attacked Inari with a swing of his arm, which was charged with electricity. He grabbed Inari's right arm and squeezed it mercilessly. Inari could feel the electricity surging through his body and his arm starting to crack. Then the Raikage threw Inari down in the doorway. His impact created a crater in Yumi's room. "Damn you!" The Raikage bellowed again. He swung his fist, but Inari redirected it with his own fist and the Raikage accidentally punched himself in the face, shocking himself. He roared in pain. "You ruined my face!"

"Oh get over yourself, you over grown gorilla!" Inari said. A sword came out of his sleeve and he swung it at the Raikage's face. It sliced his face and his blood landed on Inari's face. Then Inari made a rapid string of handsigns. "Lightning Style: Lightning cannon!" His arm became engulfed in lightning and he shot a huge wave of it at the Raikage. It engulfed him and Yumi and made the rest of her room a flaming ash cave. When the smoke from the jutsu cleared, Inari took his sword, stood on the Raikage, and stabbed him through the heart.

"I-I-Inari..." He heard a weak voice say. He looked down to see Yumi, crushed under her father's dead body. Her face was burned and blood was trailing from her mouth.

"Oh crap, Yumi!" He jumped off the Raikage and kneeled beside his girlfriend. "Are you okay?"

"No." Yumi said matter-of-factly "When you stabbed my father, you got me too. I think you got my stomach."

"Oh no! I-I-I didn't mean to!" Inari stammered. He got her father off her and lay her face up.

"It's okay..." Yumi said. "I'll be fine..."

"No you're not!" Inari said. "I can tell you're going to die!"

"Exactly." Yumi said. "It's okay. I figured you were going to kill me if I didn't join your gang."

"No, I never wanted to kill you... I-I-I love you." Inari said.

Yumi smiled. She placed her hand on Inari's cheek and pulled him closer. She kissed him. "Funny, because I love you too." She said when he sat back up. "Goodbye...Inari..." And with that, she shut her eyes and drifted off into a sleep she would never wake up from.

When Inari heard footsteps from above, he ran into the archives to get Makoto. "We need to get out of here!"

**FROM LAST CHAPTER**

"Makoto!" Inari yelled. He burst into the room and one look told Makoto something happened. His face was covered in blood and his right sleeve was torn off, revealing a bruised and probably broken arm. And something told Makoto that wasn't Inari's blood on his face.

"What happened?!" He asked.

Inari said through his exhausted pants, "We got caught. Raikage... Found us. I-I-I panicked!

Makoto slapped him. "What did you do?!"

"Makoto, I killed the first Raikage."

"You what?!" Makoto said.

"I killed him! He attacked me, I-I panicked!" Inari said sweating. "Look, point is, we need to get out of here!"

"I agree." Makoto said, now hearing the sounds of ANBU in the archives. "But how? They've got us cornered."

"But they don't know that yet." Inari said.

When they heard someone say "I'll look in the Raikage-only room!" Inari shushed Makoto and worded "Follow my lead." to Makoto. When two ANBU walked into the room, Inari jumped them and killed them. He handed Makoto the armor of one and put on the other's armor and mask himself after discarding his over sized black robe. Makoto quickly followed Inari's lead.

"Now we can sneak out of here without being noticed." He said.

"Good idea, Inari." Makoto said putting his ANBU's mask on.

When they left the room, another ANBU came up to them. "Did you find who killed Lord Raikage?"

"Uh, no." Makoto said, interrupting Inari from saying anything. "No one in there."

"Okay, you keep looking you two." The man said and walked away.

"Why didn't you let me say anything?" Inari murmured to Makoto.

"You kidding? If you said anything, they would know it was you right away! We need to get out of here with what's left of our hides." He said referring to Inari's broken arm.

"Good point..." Inari said. They made their way out of the Raikage mansion and floated away on another cloud carriage.

"Do you think it was a little TOO easy to get out of there?" Makoto asked Inari.

"Uh, a little bit, why?" Inari asked. As if on cue, a lightning bolt cut through the cloud. "What the hell?!" The lightning bolt kept going, but made a U-turn and came back at the two Akatsuki members. They barely dodged it as it went back into it's owner's hands. A tall ANBU with a mean looking mask. "Crap..." Inari muttered.

"Who's that?" Makoto asked as the man readied the bolt again.

"ANBU second in command, his name is literally Gorilla. Technically the head ANBU now that I'm gone." Inari explained. "He is one of the strongest shinobi I've ever met."

"Well, you haven't met me yet." Makoto smirked. Then he yelled at Gorilla. "Hey! Monkey-butt! I betcha you can't beat me one-on-one!" After hearing a loud bellowing, he continued his taunts. "Ha! You even SOUND like a gorilla!"

"Makoto, what are you doing?" Inari asked.

"Just get us outside the village. I want to fight this guy." Makoto said.

"Are you crazy?" Inari practically jumped.

"Oh, c'mon, I haven't had a good fight in months." Makoto grinned. Once they were outside the village in a large empty plateau, Makoto made a wolf-whistle. As soon as he was done, Gorilla appeared over the hillside. "Oh look, it obeys like a dog." Makoto smirked. Gorilla merely spit on the ground.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to be put down tonight." He said.

"Then bring it big boy!" Makoto opened his arms as if expecting a hug. Gorilla charged him like a rhino and Makoto realized one thing... This guy was BIG! Nevertheless, Makoto got himself into this and he planned on getting out of it. The hard way, if necessary. He jumped out of the way and made a matador pose. "Ole!" Despite his joking and taunting, Makoto was analyzing this guy. He was big as on ox, smelled like an ox, and probably had the strength of an ox to boot. He was lightning style user, that was clear, but what were his weaknesses? Then Gorilla reached for a sheath on his back. Out of it he pulled a long sword. Then the sword started glowing and Makoto realized what it was. It was the lightning bolt used to disperse the cloud from the lightning carriage. So that was his main jutsu, Makoto guessed. Before he could think anymore, Gorilla threw the lightning bolt and it hit the ground, Makoto jumping away from it. "Oh come on! Are ya scared that you can't beat me from less than fifty feet away?" He taunted some more.

"Shut up, already!" Gorilla charged again and picked up his lightning bolt from the ground. He swung at Makoto who ducked and slid between his legs. Makoto jumped up from behind Gorilla and made handsigns. His hand crackled with electricity and he punched Gorilla in the back of his head, making his ANBU mask fall. Under the mask, Gorilla had large green eyes and big nostrils. This guy really was a gorilla... So Ape-man turned to face Makoto and swung his lightning bolt-sword....thing. This time, Makoto grabbed it and stopped it mid-swing. "What the...? How are you not hurt?"

Makoto made a face like he was thinking. "Oh, I dunno... Maybe 'cuz...I know lightning style too!" He tightened his grip on the lightning sword and swung Gorilla around in circles for a couple rounds. Then he slammed his opponent on the ground and seized the sword. He grabbed the hilt, the lightning wearing off revealing his cut hands. "Oops, I guess I forgot there was a blade to this thing." Makoto said examining his blood, feigning interest while Gorilla rose from the dust cloud. Gorilla smirked.

"You let your guard down!" He yelled running for Makoto, his hand engulfed in electricity. He swung at Makoto, but Makoto jumped and slashed Gorilla in the face, leaving a scar very similar to Iruka's, but bigger, encompassing almost his entire face.

"No, that's what I WANTED you to think." Makoto said, now examining the sword as Gorilla fell back on the ground. "You're just a bit dumb in the head. A bit being an over exaggeration of course." Gorilla got up, but Makoto turned and used his own jutsu against him. The sword started glowing and now Makoto was the one holding the lightning bolt. He pointed it directly at Gorilla. "Now, doggy, sit." He commanded. Gorilla gulped and Makoto raised an eyebrow. "Sit!" He commanded again, and Gorilla tensed.

"I will not be reduced to a household pet by a rouge." He growled.

Makoto smiled. "I was kinda hoping you would say that. That means you still have fight in you. But unfortunately, you will HAVE to obey this command..." After a moment of silence, Makoto yawned. "Want to hear what it is?"

"I think you'll tell me either way..." Gorilla sighed.

"You're absolutely right." Makoto lowered the lightning bolt and it started getting bigger because he was adding more and more electricity to it. "Play...DEAD!" He thrusted the lightning bolt and as it made contact with Gorilla's nose, both combatants were engulfed in a huge explosion. Inari shielded his eyes and looked at the black smoke cloud once the explosion died down.

"Makoto?" He asked, hoping for a reply. A huge black figure started emerging from the cloud and Inari stepped back, thinking Gorilla was that figure. When it emerged, the figure was revealed to be Gorilla's charred body on Makoto's shoulder. "Makoto?! You beat him?!"

"Duh." Makoto dropped Gorilla's body. Inari kneeled down to examine it, but Makoto stopped him. "You might not want to do that. His face is kinda... you know... messed up."

"Oh, uh, okay." Inari said. "So should we go back to the base?"

"Duh." Makoto repeated. "Let's take the body back too, it could hold some secrets we don't already know.

"Good idea." Inari said starting towards the base. "When should we break into the village again?"

"You kidding?" Makoto said. "They'll be under maximum security for months. There's no way we'll be able to go back there."

"So what's the plan?" Inari asked.

"I dunno." Makoto said looking forward. "We'll contact Madara for further instructions."

"Okay then." Inari looked down and they continued towards the base.

* * *

A few days later, Madara entered the base to find Makoto laying down in the middle of the floor staring at the ceiling and Inari nursing his still broken arm. Both had new cloaks. "You failed." He said crossing his arms.

"We did what we could." Makoto said.

"And hey, look on the bright side," Inari said, "I killed the Raikage."

"You didn't need to kill the Raikage. You needed to get more information!" Madara said, growing impatient.

"Sorry, but Lover-boy here couldn't resist his sex urges." Makoto sighed.

"Shut up!" Inari snapped. "I just wanted to say bye."

"Uh, huh. All night long." Makoto snickered.

"I'm gonna kill you." Inari said.

"Now, now, now." Madara said. "As much as I love arguing between team mates, I must interrupt to give you instructions."

"Yes?" Makoto asked sitting up.

"Makoto. Your time to prove yourself is nearing quickly." Madara said. "The second Hokage will have to intervene in the conflict between Konoha and Kumo very soon. And when he does, you must kill him. Quickly, and quietly."

"Roger that." Makoto said.

"Here's what you're going to do. I think the Hokage will intervene with a team. If we can lure Kumo's Kinkaku force into finding them, the second will have no choice but to sacrifice himself if he wants his sub-ordinates to escape. What you need to do is finish him before the Kinkaku Force can."

"The Kin-what force?" Makoto asked.

"The Kinkaku Force." Inari explained. "An elite team of 20 or so shinobi from Kumo. They are expert trackers and very powerful. We must be careful with these people."

"Lover-Boy is right." Madara said. "Is that too much to handle, Makoto? Or will you manage to defeat him without killing fifteen extra people along the way?"

"Don't worry." Makoto sighed. "I'll take him out quickly."

"You better." Madara said evilly. "One more miss-step and I will have to kill you."

"What? I can't at least get kicked out?" Makoto said jokingly.

"No. You are in this organization for the rest of your life. You can't leave us, run away or get 'kicked out' without being killed at the same time." Madara said turning around to leave. "Let's just say I take my job as club president very seriously." And with that, he disappeared in what seemed like a black hole. Inari sighed.

"What is it Lover-Boy, did ya not get to say good-bye to your girlfriend as long as you would have liked?" Makoto asked.

"No..." Inari said. "Actually, I, uh, killed her."

"Why?"

"Well, you see...it was an accident. If I hadn't have killed her, I wouldn't have been so panicked when I found you in the archives." Inari said throwing a random rock across the room with his good arm.

"I see. Well, sorry for your loss." Makoto said.

"What about your girlfriend, did you feel bad when you killed her?"

"Okay, for one, I never had a girlfriend, and second, of course I did. She was the closest friend I'd ever had." Makoto closed his eyes, wanting to drift off to sleep and forget this conversation.

"Oh, well, you had a choice whether to do it or not, so she must not have been that important to you." Inari said, a second later receiving a punch to the face.

"Shut up!" Makoto yelled. "I was confused, I didn't know what was going on. I guess my survival instinct kicked in and my life was more important than anyone else's..." He sighed.

"Sorry." Inari said rubbing his cheek.

"No, it's fine..." Makoto walked away and sat on a rock. "I just kinda lost my temper."

"I understand." Inari said. "I shouldn't have said that."

"Good night." Makoto stood up and walked into a deeper part of the cave that held his makeshift bed.

* * *

The next six months were full of boring days one after another. The most fun the two Akatsuki members had was going outside for five minutes and tormenting some innocent squirrels with genjutsu. Eventually Inari approached Makoto. "Hey Makoto, do you have a second chakra nature?"

"Uh, no, why?" Makoto asked.

"You're going to need more than just lightning jutsu if you want to trump the Second's water style." Inari explained. He handed Makoto a chakra paper. "Find your second nature. Do basically what you did for finding lightning, but think of every nature BUT lightning."

"Got it." Makoto ran his chakra through the paper and thought of the other elements. Wind, Fire, Water, Earth.... He desperately hoped for earth, because then he would have an advantage over the second Hokage. After a moment of focus, his paper crumbled, turning into dirt. "Earth!" Makoto exclaimed. "Great! Now I have an advantage against the second Hokage!"

"Only if you work on your jutsu. Now hurry and get one thought of, you only have a month to learn it." Inari said.

"Good thing I brought this." Makoto said holding up the jutsu book he snatched from the archives.

"That's.....a jutsu book filled with kage level jutsu!" Inari said looking at the book like it was going to destroy the world if he were to touch it.

"Duh." Makoto said once again. "If I'm going after a kage, I need a kage level jutsu." He popped open the book to the Earth section and immediately found a jutsu. "This sounds nice." He smiled.

"Then hurry and get to practicing." Inari said. And so he did! Makoto spent the next month mastering his new earth style ninjutsu.

"I'm only gonna need this one." He would always say when Inari asked what other jutsu he would use.

Eventually, the sixth month passed and Madara found himself standing at the entrance of Akatsuki's Lightning country base again. "Makoto. The second hokage is on his way."

"No way? Right now?" Makoto asked. Inari stopped practicing with his healed arm to listen.

"Yes, and he's got a team of shinobi with him. Two of which are possible hokage candidates."

"Who are these people?" Makoto asked.

"There are six in all, not counting the second himself. They are Homura Mitokado, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, Torifu Akimichi, Danzo Shimura, and Kagami Uchiha."

"I've heard of all those people." Makoto said. "And I've met Danzo. Quite the wierdy, if you ask me."

"I didn't." Madara snapped. "Here's what you need to do. Inari, The Kinkaku Force is already on the second's tail, so when they corner him, lure them away yourself. Don't let them get to the Hokage. Then, when the second sends his sub-ordinates away, Makoto swoops in for the kill."

"Roger!" Makoto said getting excited.

"There's not much time left, hurry you two!" Madara disappeared and Makoto and Inari jumped out of the base.

"Inari! Go find the Force!" Makoto commanded as they started towards the border which the Hokage crossed five minutes prior.

Meanwhile, in a dense forest, a team of seven ninja landed next to a huge tree. The second Hokage put his finger to the ground. "We're surrounded....there's....20 of them..." He said with his eyes closed "From the way they're tacking us...I'd say they're Kumogakure...Master bounty hunters."

"There's only 7 of us, including Nidaime-sama." Homura said. "...There's no way..."

"They don't know our exact location yet." Koharu said. "We should lie in wait for them and take them by surprise, giving us a chance to escape."

"That won't work." Kagami Uchiha said. "Someone will have to lure them away..."

"...A decoy, eh?" Torifu said. "Whoever it is....they won't survive..." He continued grimly.

Danzo put his hand on his knee, thinking deeply.

"I'll do it!" Hiruzen Sarutobi eventually said. Danzo's eyes widened as did everyone else's.

Torifu frowned. "Sarutobi...."

"Heh! Don't worry!" Hiruzen said smiling. "I'm the best of all of us...I won't die!" He put his hand on Danzo's shoulder. "Take care of the others, Danzo, I know you'll--"

"Shut up!" Danzo said pulling away. "I was about to raise my hand! Don't act like you're so great! I'll be the decoy!!"

"Danzo..."

"My father and great grandfather died as ninjas in battle! Self-sacrifice is a ninja's duty...!" Danzo continued.

"I'll be the decoy..." The second Hokage said. "You are the bright young flames who must protect the village."

"You can't!!" Danzo yelled. "You're the hokage!! There is no greater than you in the village!"

"Danzo," the second said, "You and Saru have always been rivals in everything... But what we need now is unity. Don't bring your personal squabbles into this. It's true I was slow with my decision. First you must look within and know yourself without losing your calm. Right now you will just bring danger upon your friends. At any rate... Danzo....Saru.... There's no need to be hasty at your age. One day the time will come. Just stay alive...until then." He stood up. "Saru... You must protect those who have faith in you and who love the village, and train up those to whom you can entrust the next generation. Tomorrow, you will be... Hokage...!!" Everyone's eyes widened.

"Yes, sir!" Hiruzen said bowing.

"Now go!" The second said. His six companions jumped away and he looked to the north. "I sense a familiar chakra nearby..." He said. Directly above him was two Kinkaku Force ninja sitting on a branch looking down on him.

"Get him now!" One whispered. Before they could move, a kunai hit the branch below them. They looked to the right and saw Inari.

"Hey, Kinkaku losers!" He said. "Betcha can't catch me, the S-rank rouge who killed your Raikage." He said sticking his tongue out.

"Get him!" The first Kinkaku ninja said. Then within seconds, a swarm of 20 Kumo ninja was surrounding Inari.

"Hm, this isn't quite what I planned..." Inari said. Nevertheless, he jumped away from the second Hokage as fast as he could, the entire Kinkaku Force trailing him. after dodging a kunai, he turned around and taunted them. "Missed me, missed me, now you gotta kiss me!" He yelled. A storm of kunai later, he turned again. "Oh c'mon! The dead raikage can throw better than you morons!" All was going according to plan now. All nineteen Kinkaku force members were following him, having fell for his ingenious--wait... nineteen? There must be a mistake. Inari counted again. Only nineteen Kinkaku Force following him? Where was the twentieth? All of a sudden, Inari was engulfed in a fireball. Burning, he fell to the ground and landed in a heap of burnt skin and robes. "Damn..." He said. "The last one caught me off guard." The full Kinkaku Force surrounded Inari, swords in hand. Before he knew it, his back was filled with sword tips. He staggered up and looked around. "I guess the thrill of the chase isn't as fun...when you get caught." He said through his blood-laden coughs. "Sorry Makoto... I held 'em off as long as I could. The twenty Force members made handsigns, and in a huge ball of flame, Inari was reduced to a pile of singed bones and ash.

Meanwhile, the second Hokage looked around. "I thought we were surrounded... Odd." Then Makoto landed behind him.

"Makoto reporting for duty, sir!" He said. The second wheeled around to find Makoto waving sarcastically.

"What the hell? Have I seen a ghost? Makoto...what happened to you? And what's with that getup?"

"I decided I'd roll with a new crowd. The Akatsuki to be exact." Makoto increased his chakra levels enormously and stared down the Hokage, respectfully, of course. This time he knew exactly what the second was thinking.

_'I am going to die.'_

Makoto made a long string of handsigns. He finished by clapping his hands together. "Earth Style:"

"Oh crap!" The second said.

"Earth tsunami!" Makoto punched the ground and a literal wave of rock rose towards the second. He made a long handsign sequence and the air around him started condensing.

"Water style: Giant vortex!" He yelled, causing a huge ring of water to form behind him. The ring blasted countless gallons of water at the rock wave that was continually increasing in size. the water slammed against Makoto's jutsu but was simply pushed to the side. As the wave slammed into the hokage, it formed around him, making the hokage into a rock cocoon. "Makoto!" He yelled, struggling to escape as the rock slowly started forming around his head. "How could you?"

"I heard all about you." Makoto said crossing his arms.

"What?"

"I heard I was a candidate for the third hokage. I also heard that you were planning on killing me when I returned from that mission."

"You.....what?" The hokage asked confused.

"You were scared that I would become hokage and give the Uchiha more slack then you would ever dream of giving them, so you were going to kill me when I got back from my mission weren't you?!"

"What, no, I--"

"Don't worry, Hokage, you're not being recorded, just tell me, is that true?"

The second Hokage sighed. "How did you learn that?"

"A good friend of mine. His name may ring a bell...Madara Uchiha!"

The second's eyes widened. "Madara.....he's alive?"

"Yes, and he knows everything about that village I used to call my own." Makoto said.

"But....what about your team mates?" The second asked.

"I killed them. They didn't know." Makoto said. "Now, enough babble! Time for you to die." He held his hand open and pointed his palm towards the second. He slowly started forming a fist as the rock cocoon tightened around the second Hokage. "Goodbye.....Hokage-sama!" He closed his fist and the rock cocoon exploded in a blast of rocks and blood. Makoto turned around and headed back towards the base. "Feh, too easy." He arrived at an empty base. "Hm, I'm sure Inari could have evaded those Kumo ninja by now..." He thought aloud. He waited for Inari to return, but day after day, nothing. After a long week of being alone in the base, Madara appeared at the front with Zetsu while Makoto was throwing a rock in the air and catching it. "Hey guys." Makoto said. "As you can see, I am all by my lonesome. Lover-Boy never came back from his mission."

"Exactly." Madara said. "Zetsu found him. The Kinkaku Force killed him. He wasn't fast enough to get away."

Makoto sighed. "Poor guy... Well, at least he died doing what he loves. Getting the thrill of the hunted."

"Yeah..." Zetsu's white half sighed too.

"Get a hold of yourself, you wuss!" His black half snapped.

"Guys, stop fighting." Madara said. "Now Makoto, about your new partner..."

"Don't worry about it." Makoto said. "I work better on my own."

"Well, the thing is, Madara doesn't want you running around doing whatever you damn well feel like." Zetsu's white half said. "He wants you to have a partner."

"Look." Madara said. "Kakuzu just got a new partner. If all goes like it usually does, this guy won't last five weeks and you will be paired with Kakuzu, okay?"

"Fine..." Makoto said. It felt kind of weird knowing he would be bunched with the murderous psycho that always kills his partners, but it was better than having Madara breathing down his neck every day. So Zetsu and Madara eventually left the cave and Makoto sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "So.....what now?"

* * *

**A/N: So there you have it! By the way, when the second Hokage's team is talking about being surrounded, I used some dialouge directly from the manga. To prove it, look at chapter 481. I won't give away the title for spoiler reasons, but it is where I got that scene from. But anyway, always remember, REVIEW! **


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